Election words, explained

The words you’ll meet on a ballot page, in plain English. Tap one.

Tap a word to see what it means.

All the words

Ballot paper: The paper you mark to vote. It lists every candidate in alphabetical order of surname, with their party if they have one.
By-election: An election for one seat between the scheduled ones, usually because the person who held it died, resigned or was disqualified.
Candidate: A person standing for election. Anyone qualified can stand, with or without a party.
Constituency: The area an MP represents. There are 650 in the UK.
Council: The local authority that runs services such as bins, planning, libraries and, in many areas, schools and social care.
Councillor: A person elected to a council for a ward. Councillors together set the council's budget and council tax.
Devolved: Powers the UK Parliament has handed to the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd or the Northern Ireland Assembly, such as health and education.
First past the post: The voting system where you mark one cross and the candidate with the most votes wins, even without a majority.
Independent: A candidate who stands without a party.
Majority: In a result, how many more votes the winner got than the runner-up. In Parliament, having more seats than all the other parties combined.
Manifesto: A party's published programme for an election: what it says it would do if it won.
MP: Member of Parliament: the person elected to represent a constituency in the House of Commons.
Polling station: The place you go to vote in person, often a school or community hall. It's on your poll card.
Postal vote: Voting by post instead of in person. You apply in advance.
Precept: The part of your council tax that goes to another body, such as the police, fire service or a parish council.
Proxy vote: Someone you trust votes for you, as you tell them. You apply in advance.
Register to vote: Putting your name on the electoral register so you can vote. It takes about five minutes online.
Returning officer: The official who runs an election in an area and announces the result.
Turnout: The share of registered voters who voted.
Ward: The area a councillor represents. A council area is split into wards; in Northern Ireland councillors are elected for larger district electoral areas.